In hospitals and other medical facilities, it is often necessary to administer medication to a patient by infusing the medication into the patient through a catheter that is connected to the circulatory system of the patient, for example by infusion into a blood vessel. A common infusion technique involves introducing into the patient a solution containing a medication and an infusion liquid, which serves as a diluent for the medication. In some instances, the medication can be supplied directly to the patient without an infusion liquid. An infusion can involve dispensing the fluid to the subject by gravity or actively pumping the fluid into the subject using a device known as an infusion pump.
Unfortunately, current systems for administering drugs by way of infusion suffer from several disadvantages. For example, the mechanical components of infusion pumps are prone to wear, which can make it difficult to accurately control the volumetric amount of fluid supplied to the subject.
Furthermore, safety is a major issue in the healthcare industry with respect to the ordering, mixing and delivery of drugs to patients. Fully-interconnected devices in healthcare settings can reduce the potential for human error, provide closed loop feedback and control, and improve the safety and reliability of existing systems. Interconnected devices can ensure that medical professionals are provided real-time data for making rapid data-based decisions. Such interconnectivity can also improve patient safety and allow for patient-specific real-time variable drug administration.
Unfortunately, currently there are few fully interconnected devices in the healthcare industry. Such existing systems commonly include the use of paper-based communications in heathcare facilities and in the systems which order and deliver medications to patients. Electronic systems do exist in the healthcare industry, but are often targeted towards specific areas such as the pharmacy or doctor-patient interactions. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is a computerized based system used by physicians to place orders for medications and tests. Electronic medical record (EMR) systems can be used as one way to store information in one common system.
One of the leading technologies used to improve safety in the healthcare field is barcoding. Barcoding can be used to enable matching of patients with the proper medications in a hospital or healthcare setting. Unfortunately, barcoding is not a smart technology. A barcode has no ability to record, process, receive or output data in real-time. Data can be placed within the barcode, but it must be read and interpreted by scanning devices and software. Barcoding requires extra medical professional hours because a reader must be used to manually scan in the barcodes attached to patients, drugs, and other healthcare nodes. Also, because barcoding systems are dependent on human interaction, this can lead to errors in scanning and add extra stress to a system all ready under intense pressure.
Finally, time is a major issue in the healthcare field. With a shortage of medical professionals, improving efficiency is important to retaining workers and reducing costs. Insufficient time and heavy paperwork demands can prevent medical professionals from providing needed quality, safe clinical care. Current systems commonly used in medical settings generate wasted materials due to inefficiency and paper overload. Such systems create safety problems, such as matching the right drug to the right patient and making sure the drug is administered through the right route at the right time and in the proper dosage. Additionally, such systems create problems for adjusting drug dosage for patients once the drug has been delivered to the patient's room. With shelf-life limitations and an inability to react real-time to changes, drugs are often disposed of if the incorrect drug is delivered to the room or if the drug dosage needs to be changed. This adds to the cost of healthcare systems and reduces the quality of care.
In the busy medical profession where safety is vital and the administration of drugs is a common safety concern, there is a need for fully interconnected healthcare systems. Devices, systems and methods are disclosed herein for improving the administration of drugs and the operation of healthcare systems.